Despite fraud, Afghan election is called credible

Afghan woman wins key provincial seatDespite exclusion of 299 polling stations because of fraud, the election is called credible

MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

Published 5:30 am, Friday, October 7, 2005

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - A 27-year-old woman who is a defiant critic of Afghanistan's powerful warlords won one of the first seats declared Thursday in provisional results from landmark parliamentary elections, a key step in the nation's transition to democracy.

The U.N.-Afghan election body reported "serious" cases of fraud, including ballot-box stuffing after election day. It excluded 299 polling stations from the vote count, but declared the Sept. 18 poll was still credible.

NATO, meanwhile, said it will increase its force in Afghanistan to as many as 15,000 soldiers and will take on counterinsurgency operations as it expands its mission into southern Afghanistan over coming months, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday.

"NATO is going to expand the operation into the southern part of the country, which is Kandahar, and surrounding provinces, Helmand, Uruzgan and other provinces," de Hoop Scheffer said at a news briefing with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. "Unfortunately there is still the need for counterinsurgency. We hope that need will diminish."

Until now, the 9,000-member NATO force, which was increased to 10,000 for the recent elections, has been operating as a stabilizing presence in Kabul and in the relatively peaceful northern and western parts of the country.

In Kabul, the election body declared unofficial winners for national and provincial assembly seats in two of the country's 34 provinces, Farah and Nimroz, and said most of the other results would be released in the coming week.

Final, certified results are expected by late October after what officials predict will be a frenetic complaints period.

"I'm very happy and thankful for Afghan men and women who voted for me," said Malalai Joya, a women's rights worker from Farah, who won one of her province's five seats in the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or National Assembly.

"My first priority when I go to parliament will be peace, security and stability, and to collect all the guns from warlords," she told the Associated Press.